Jackaby by William Ritter (Review)

Abigail Rook has run away from home in search of an adventure. She arrives in New Fiddleham and she is in desperate need of a job. Abigail runs into R. F Jackaby, an investigator and a seer – someone who can see the supernatural. Abigail gets the job as his assistant. She is valuable to Jackaby as she notices the ordinary and people. On her first day she finds herself on the trail of a serial killer, and they aren’t entirely human.

Jackaby is a lovely little novel which will leave you very satisfied and entertained by the last page. It is said to be Doctor Whomeets Sherlock, while I didn’t really get the feel of Doctor Who, it definitely had the Sherlock who-done-it feel. Our investigator R. F Jackaby is very much like Sherlock in his eccentricity and his factual approach to many things, as well as his directness and outspokenness. All this makes him a very entertaining character to read about. Abigail Rook is his assistant. She is a keen observer, noticing things such as waste bins, mail boxes and people, which are something our Jackaby misses as he focuses on the supernatural elements. I very much liked Abigail. She was independent, assertive and bold. She was determined to have an adventure and do what she wanted and not what others wanted for her. Her and Jackaby’s chemistry was fantastic. I liked how it was totally platonic, which is unusual in books with two main character who are male and female. Their personalities fit together like two puzzle pieces fit together. They were very enjoyable.

There were other secondary characters who were also enjoyable, such as Cane, Jenny and Douglas – the duck. They were nice additions and I liked their relationships with the characters. The romance was there, but barely, and the main focus was on the murder mystery. I am actually really glad there wasn’t much romance, because can you imagine how rushed it would have been, as the story went over only a couple of days? I like that they just took a fancy to each other and that was all we saw.

I would say the plot was predictable, but it was still fun. The following of the investigation was very thrilling, fun and very full of adventure and I liked it very much. I liked the supernatural element of the book. It made it different and I must say, it made it more enjoyable.

I would personally recommend to any fans of Sherlock, and anyone looking for a good paranormal read.